Djanet (Algeria): In one hand, the dancers hold swords symbolising battle. On the other hand, a piece of cloth symbolising peace. They dance a shuffling “step-step” to the beat of drums and chanting from the women encircling them, all adorned in their finest traditional garments and jewellery. They’re performing the rituals of the 3,000-year-old annual Sebeiba festival of Djanet, a southeastern Algerian oasis town deep in the Sahara, just over 200 kilometres from the Libyan border.
Sebeiba is a core tradition of the Tuareg people, native to the Sahara and parts of West Africa. The Tuareg are Muslim, and their native language is Tamasheq, though many speak some combination of French, Modern Standard Arabic, Algerian Arabic (Darija) and English. The festival lasts 10 days, and ends with a daylong dance competition between two neighbourhoods in Djanet — Zelouaz, or Tsagit, and El Mihan, or Taghorfit. The winner is decided by judges from a third neighbourhood, Adjahil, by selecting the group with the most beautiful costumes, dances, jewellery, poetry and songs. The Tuaregs in Djanet say there are two legends explaining the significance of Sebeiba, though oral traditions vary. The first says the festival was put on to celebrate peace and joy after Moses defeated the Pharaoh in the Exodus story. “In commemoration of this great historical event, when God saved Moses and his people from the tyranny of the oppressive Pharaoh, the people of Djanet came out and celebrated through dance,” said Ahmed Benhaoued, a Tuareg guide at his family’s tourism agency, Admer Voyages. He has lived in Djanet all his life. The second legend says the festival commemorates the resolution of a historic rivalry between Zelouaz and El Mihan. “The festival is a proud tradition of the Tuareg in Djanet,” Benhaoued said. “Some call it the Sebeiba celebration,’ or the war dance without bloodshed’, or the dance of peace.” Today, Sebeiba is also a point of cultural pride. Recognised by UNESCO since 2014 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Sebeiba coincides with Ashoura, a day marking the 10th day of Muharram, or the first month of the Islamic year. Some in Djanet fast for up to three days before Sebeiba.
This year, Ashoura and Sebeiba fell July 6, when temperatures in Djanet reached about 38 °C (100 F). Still, more than 1,000 people gathered to watch Sebeiba at a sandy square marking the centre point between the two neighbourhoods, where the festival is held each year.